


Moments, Forever

by songofsunset



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VIII
Genre: Gen, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 12:23:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13053933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songofsunset/pseuds/songofsunset
Summary: "The first time Amilyn Holdo meets Princess Leia, Amilyn is starstruck, just a little."





	Moments, Forever

**Author's Note:**

> A friend was talking about how they shipped these two and I was agreeing like 'haha yeah fic for them would go like this and this and this' and here we are
> 
> I paid zero attention to extended canon, everything is made up from two viewings of the movie, enjoy this for what it is ;P

The first time Amilyn Holdo meets Princess Leia, Amilyn is starstruck, just a little. 

Leia glows like a comet in her white dress, gleaming and dazzling, and even as Leia hangs medals around the necks of the heroes of the rebellion, Amilyn cannot tear hear gaze away. Leia's shape is burned into the insides of Amilyn's eyelids, and she never wants it to end. 

At the reception after, Amilyn stutters into her appetizers and tries to hide behind her mother's skirts, even though she is far too old for that sort of behavior. Her mother scolds her afterwards, but Amilyn can't bring herself to care. She'd seen the princess laughing, after all, at something or another one of the heroes had said, and everything is worth it. 

\------

Amilyn studies politics, because she is good at it, and interested... and if it is also a way to reach closer to an angel she met once upon a time, well, best not to dwell on it. 

She is groaning over her datapads in a frigid corner of the base one day when a steaming mug of caf is shoved towards her. Amilyn blinks stupidly up at it for several seconds before she follows the hand holding it up to the face- and nearly drops all her essays in shock. 

"L-Leia! I mean, Princess, I mean-"

"Leia is fine", the woman says wryly, hair braided around her head like a crown, still dressed all in white like a being from another world.

"I was just- is that-"

"That sort of work is no fun." Leia says, smiling, and Amilyn stares as though she could become a droid and record every moment of this encounter. Mere flesh and blood will have to be enough. "I remember when they put me through that," Leia says, and Amilyn finds herself holding the mug of caf, warm in her trembling hands. "But you keep at it, we can use more minds like yours. And when you're done, you come work for me" 

And then Leia winks and strides away, and Amilyn stands there blinking, and only manages to take a sip of the caf when it has nearly gone cool.

She doesn't remember writing her papers, but they are judged good enough, and that is good enough for her.

\------

Leia saves the galaxy, and marries her sweetheart, one of those nice young heroes she'd been honoring back at the start of things, and Amilyn tells herself that she doesn't care, that she never cared. 

She charges into Republic politics with a passion, making a place and a name for herself, and doesn't pause whenever she sees a woman all dressed in white, passing at the fringes of her life. 

She forges a network of informants, favors traded and deeds owed and finds that people respect her, call her Senator Holdo, look to her for leadership. She finds that this suits her. 

She takes lovers, wherever she goes. All are temporary, in the end. 

Even her dear Republic. 

\------

She is not sure when she realizes that the Republic is doomed. 

It is gradual, the sort of slow fade that only seems inevitable in retrospect. Before you know it the world has shifted around you and the unthinkable has become commonplace. Nothing is how it was, or should be, and _no one seems to care._

She thinks sometimes, at night, that if only she'd been more observant, if only she'd pushed less, pushed harder, compromised more or been unflinching- maybe she could have saved the society she'd loved and fought for. But it was not enough. It was never enough. 

All she knows is that by the time she realizes what has happened and starts to work to fix it, Leia is already there, fighting tooth and nail with the fate of the galaxy on the line, yet again. And this time, Holdo can stand beside her. 

"Thank you, Commander Holdo," Leia says, the first time Holdo distinguishes herself in combat. "I knew I could count on you by my side," and Holdo hates a little how much that praise means to her. 

\------

Leia is older now, married, divorced, a child lost to the shadows, and when Holdo looks at her, she sees an equal, not an idol. 

Leia no longer wears white, choosing greys and muted tones over her old wardrobe, muttering sometimes about the cost of dry-cleaning, the wry smile not quite making her eyes. Holdo wears bold colors in her stead, burns them into her hair and brings a splash of color to the grim conferences they have, again and again, watching the First Order spread like a leeching stain throughout the galaxy. 

They have lost nights to quiet contemplation in the softly beeping dark of the bridge, sipping their cups of caf, reading over reports and plans and fatality statistics. 

When Holdo survives battles that threaten to overwhelm her, Leia is the one to welcome her home, clasp her forearms, offer her comfort. 

They make caf for each other as often as not, these days. They spend nights in each other's quarters, sometimes. It is good. Things are good. 

And Holdo knows that nothing is forever. 

\------

Still at the end, she wishes for forever, invokes it like the shadow of the Republic they'd both once fought for and loved.

"May the force be with you... always."

It will have to be enough.


End file.
